SATIRICON | N° 543 DI 700 1963 | PETRONIO ARBITRO

The 1963 limited edition of Petronius Arbiter’s Satyricon (no. 543 of 700 copies) presents one of the most important texts of classical Latin literature, preserved only in fragments. Attributed to Petronius, arbiter of elegance under Emperor Nero, the work combines satire, parody, and novelistic invention, offering a vivid portrayal of Roman society in the 1st century CE. With its episodic structure, including the famous Cena Trimalchionis, the Satyricon blends vulgar realism, literary parody, and social critique, making it a precursor of the modern picaresque and satirical novel. This fine edition underscores the text’s literary and cultural significance as a window into Roman decadence and the invention of narrative experimentation.