Juvenal’s literary life.—In the MSS. the satires are divided into Books, and the division seems ancient. Book i. includes Sat. 1-5; Book ii. = Sat. 6; Book iii. = Sat. 7-9; Book iv. = Sat. 10-12; Book v. = Sat. 13-16.
Book i. was written under Trajan; certainly after A.D. 100, the date of the trial of Marius Priscus [102]; 1, 49,
‘exul ab octava Marius bibit et fruitur dis
iratis.’
Book ii. not earlier than A.D. 116. It is highly probable that 6, 407, ‘instantem regi Armenio Parthoque cometen,’ refers to a comet seen at Rome in November A.D. 115; and 6, 411, ‘nutare urbes, subsidere terras,’ to the earthquake at Antioch, 13th December, A.D. 115.
Book iii., probably about A.D. 120, was written under Hadrian, who is eulogized in 7, 1-35. Dürr thinks it probable that 7, 36-243, was written under Trajan, and that the introduction, in praise of Hadrian, was written afterwards. This is also Friedländer’s view; cf. l. 1, ‘Et spes et ratio studiorum in Caesare tantum,’ with Spart. vit. Hadr. 14, 8, ‘poematum studiosissimus.’ This also supports the view that the introduction was written not long after Hadrian’s accession, when a new era for poets was supposed to be beginning.
Book iv. was probably written about A.D. 125.
Book v. A clue to the date is found in 13, 16-7,
‘Stupet haec, qui iam post terga reliquit
sexaginta annos, Fonteio consule natus.’
Fonteius Capito and C. Iulius Rufus were consuls A.D. 67, in which year the sexagenarian friend whom Juvenal addresses was born. The date of writing will therefore be A.D. 127.[103]
Cf. also 15, 27, ‘nuper consule Iunco.’ Iuncus was consul A.D. 127, so that this satire could not have been written before A.D. 128. So 15, 44,