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This article is about the Roman author Petronius. For other uses of the name, see Petronius (disambiguation).

Petronius (ca. 27–66) was a Roman writer of the Neronian age; he was a noted satirist. He is identified with Gaius Petronius Arbiter, but the manuscript text of the Satyricon calls him Titus Petronius. Image File history File links Wikiquote-logo. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Dpb. ... Image File history File links Dpe. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Authorship redirects here. ... Petronius is a Roman nomen shared by several notables, the most famous being the writer Petronius Arbiter. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus (SPQR) The Roman Empire at its greatest extent. ... For other uses, see Nero (disambiguation). ... 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... A manuscript (Latin manu scriptus, written by hand), strictly speaking, is any written document that is put down by hand, in contrast to being printed or reproduced some other way. ... Satyricon (or Satyrica) is a Latin novel, believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript text of the Satyricon calls him Titus Petronius. ...

Life and work

The historian Tacitus describes a Petronius who was the arbiter elegantiae, "judge of elegance" in the court of the emperor Nero. This Petronius is generally thought to be the same Petronius who is named in manuscripts as author of the Satyricon, a fragmentary novel in Latin describing the adventures of a homosexual pair, Encolpius and Giton. The work itself reveals nothing directly of Petronius' fortunes, position, or even century, so the identification of the author with Nero's courtier must remain speculative. Some lines of Sidonius Apollinaris, from his Carmen XXIII, refer to him and are often taken to imply that he lived and wrote at Massilia. If, however, one accepts the identification of this author with the Petronius of Tacitus, Nero's courtier, it follows either that he was born in Massilia, or that Sidonius refers to the novel itself and that its scene was partly laid at Massilia. Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (c. ... For other uses, see Nero (disambiguation). ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... For other uses, see Latin (disambiguation). ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... Gaius Sollius Modestus Sidonius Apollinaris (c. ... Marseilles redirects here. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (c. ...

The chief personages of the story are evidently strangers in the towns of Southern Italy. Their Greek-sounding names (Encolpius, Ascyltos, Giton, etc.) and literary training accord with the characteristics of the old Greek colony in the 1st century. The high position among Latin writers ascribed by Sidonius to Petronius, and the mention of him by Macrobius beside Menander among the humorists, when compared with the absolute silence of Quintilian, Juvenal and Martial, seem adverse to the opinion that the Satyricon was a work of the age of Nero. But Quintilian was concerned with writers who could be turned to use in the education of an orator. Southern Italy, often referred to in Italian as the Mezzogiorno (a term first used in 19th century in comparison with French Midi ) encompasses six of the countrys 20 regions: Basilicata Campania Calabria Puglia Sicilia Sardinia Sicilia although it is geographically and administratively included in Insular Italy, it has a... Colonies in antiquity were city-states founded from a mother-city, not from a territory-at-large. ... The 1st century was that century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Gregorian calendar. ... Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, Roman grammarian and philosopher, flourished during the reigns of Honorius and Arcadius (395-423). ... Bust of Menander Menander (342–291 BC) (Greek ), Greek dramatist, the chief representative of the New Comedy, was born in Athens. ... Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (c. ... Frontispiece depicting Juvenal and Persius, from a volume translated by John Dryden in 1711. ... Marcus Valerius Martialis, known in English as Martial, was a Latin poet from Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula) best known for his twelve books of Epigrams, published in Rome between AD 86 and 103, during the reigns of the emperors Domitian, Nerva and Trajan. ...

In fiction

There are many references to and elaborations on Petronius' Satyricon, which can be found there. Petronius himself appears as a character in: Satyricon (or Satyrica) is a Latin novel, believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript text of the Satyricon calls him Titus Petronius. ...

• the novel Quo Vadis and its versions, where C. Petronius is the preferred courtier of Nero, using his wit to adulate and mock him at the same time. He is horrified at Nero's burning of Rome.
• in Robert A. Heinlein's novel The Door into Summer, where the protagonist's cat is named "Petronius the Arbiter".
• in Jesse Browner's novel The Uncertain Hour, which recounts Petronius' final banquet and suicide (as told by Tacitus, Annals 16).
• in Anthony Burgess's novel " The Kingdom of the Wicked", Gaius Petronius appears as a major character, an advisor to Nero.
• in the Waldorf play, Road to Damascus, where Petronius is Nero's advisor.

Quo Vadis is a novel by a Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz, describing the introduction of Christianity into early A.D. Rome (while under Neros rule). ... // Quo vadis is a Latin phrase meaning Where are you going? It is used as a proverbial phrase from the Bible (John 16:5). ... Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of hard science fiction. ... The Door into Summer is a science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein, published in 1957. ... For other uses, see Suicide (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Nero (disambiguation). ... Waldorf can have the following meanings: Waldorf, Maryland Waldorf, Minnesota Waldorf Astor (1879-1952), a businessman and politician. ... The Road to Damascus is a Biblical reference to the conversion of a persecutor of Christians named Saul on the road from Jerusalem to Damascus in the Roman province of Syria in AD 36. ...

In film

• Fellini Satyricon (1969) is a stylized adaptation of Petronius' novel.

• In the 1951 film of Quo Vadis, Petronius is portrayed by Leo Genn, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

• Petronius and his work the Satyricon are mentioned in an episode of the 1950's TV western "Have Gun, Will Travel".

This article is about the film. ... Quo Vadis (the title is Latin, meaning Where are you going?), is a 1951 Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman soldier, returning from the wars, who falls in love with a Christian and becomes intrigued by her religion. ... Leo John Genn (August 9, 1905 – January 26, 1978) was an English actor on stage and in films. ... Have Gun, Will Travel was a popular American television Western that aired from on CBS 1957 through 1963. ...

See also

• Satyricon
• Supplements to the Satyricon
• Asteroid 3244 Petronius named after the satirist

Satyricon (or Satyrica) is a Latin novel, believed to have been written by Gaius Petronius, though the manuscript text of the Satyricon calls him Titus Petronius. ... Petroniuss Satyricon, the only realistic classical Latin novel (probably written c. ... 3244 Petronius is a main belt asteroid, which was discovered by Cornelis Johannes van Houten, Ingrid van Houten_Groeneveld and Tom Gehrels in 1960. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Encyclopædia Britannica, the eleventh edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...

External links

• Works by Petronius at Project Gutenberg
• Latin text of the Satyricon from The Latin Library