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Juvenal was a Roman poet and writer of satire pieces during the first and second centuries of Imperial Rome. Juvenal was a citizen of Rome and wrote for the Roman people. One of his satires, Satire 6 from Book II, addresses the subject of Roman women in a harsh manner which a reader may view as misogynistic. The exact dates of Juvenal’s life are ambiguous, but there is evidence found in the events and people mentioned in Satire 6 that indicates it was written some time after 115 A.D.1 Due to the satirical nature of the document, it is hard to discern Juvenal’s personal view of women or his specific purpose for writing it. It would be inaccurate to read Satire 6 and assume that Juvenal himself held negative views of women since the purpose of satire is not always personally moral but is written to ridicule certain elements of society. Satire 6 can be read as either a piece on the corruption of less than savory women or as a humorous piece on the misogynist attitudes towards women that were held by some men that might not have necessarily been in widespread opinion or practice. If that is the case, the satire would be interpreted to mean that Juvenal was not a misogynist himself and instead wrote Satire 6 to criticize men who were misogynists. Satire 6 contains a wealth of information about gender roles, social status, current events, and Roman culture that even a novice of Roman history can learn from.
From the subject matter of Satire 6, it appears that Juvenal was writing for the upper class or perhaps for the enjoyment of educated Plebeians who might have been critical of the elite upper class way of life. For a Plebeian, it would have been hard to relate to some aspects of the subject matter like details of women who are brought up in luxury, raised in their finely crafted cradles and set on top of soft cushions. Juvenal speaks of these women as being particularly fearful of sea travel due to their delicate natures and the safety in which they were raised.2 Plebeian woman certainly would have been more used to harder conditions than their Patrician contemporaries and might have thought that description of them amusing. In addition, given the economic status of Plebeians, they most likely would not have had the money to afford sea travel to other areas of the Empire. The decadent and obscene way that Juvenal portrays Patrician life might have entertained Plebeians who were contemptuous of the upper class or even compelled them to call for some sort of moral restriction on the upper class. Concerns of the average Plebeian would not have been on discussions of Vergil and Homer. Those topics would have been more a part of the leisurely lifestyle of Patricians who could afford extra pleasures. Juvenal also differentiates class in his satire when he compares the ratio of childbirth of “pauper women” against that of the rate of childbirth for upper class women; he states that “virtually no gilded bed is laid out for childbirth” and he advises men to purchase for their wives potions that give abortions or else risk the chance that they could end up the father of an illegitimate child.3 In stating this, he is speaking directly to the concerns of men of the upper class.
No matter whom Juvenal’s audience is intended to be, whether Patrician or Plebeian, he is assuming that they share the same values that he does. In order for an audience to relate to his message, whether it is a condemnation of women and the rich way of life of the upper class or of men who harbor misogynistic views of women, they need to agree at least somewhat to what he is saying and understand the message he is trying to relay. He is also assuming that his audience is cultured and worldly enough to understand the implications of things such as the influence of foreign ideas and products on society.4 For this reason, it might be that Juvenal is directing his satire towards urban dwellers rather than rural citizens who might not be influenced so much by popular society. Rural populations would not have access to the newest information and products as readily, thus they would not be as affected by them. Juvenal also makes mention of important people like politicians, lawyers, and rhetoriticians that uneducated Plebeians or rural citizens might not know and therefore not understand.
Though it seems that Juvenal is speaking mainly to Patricians, he does not use a tone that indicates distinct negative feelings towards the lower class of Plebeians. In fact, he seems to instead see them as icons of how Rome once was when it was more virtuous and untainted. When he declares that Rome was a better and more virtuous place when Romans worked hard for what they gained in life, he is putting value on hard work and manual labor which are the domains of the lower class.5 A reader could interpret from this sentiment that Juvenal feels that Plebeians are more a model for the ideal Roman citizen than the upper class, which has become corrupted by riches and by the luxury of peacetime. Though Juvenal does not make the assertion that lower class women model the ideal Roman matron, he compares their lifestyle to that of upper class women in a way that gives an impression that he is measuring the two against each other. His judgment of the upper class and their leisurely way of life contrasts the upper class against the virtue of hard work modeled by the lower class. Juvenal also gives credit to “pauper” women who “endure the trials of childbirth and endure the burdens of nursing” as necessary unlike their female Patrician peers who obtain abortions at their leisure so as not to have children.6 His tone is not one of scorn for lower class women but rather respect because he pays them proper dues for their hardship and commitment to their duties and roles as woman, wife and mother.
Juvenal provides some information about events in Rome, about some of Rome’s important people, about Roman culture, and about then current political and geographical aspects of the Empire. While the events Juvenal mentions might not be Empire changing and historically important events, they still give insight to readers into how Rome really was and some of the incidents that make it interesting and unique. Juvenal tells a humorous and obscene story about the wife of the Emperor Claudius who would leave the palace at night and spend hours with other men in a brothel, acting as a prostitute herself. This story was not something that Juvenal himself made up; it is a part of Roman history, the history not usually found in textbooks. In telling this story about Claudius’ wife spending her nights in a brothel, Juvenal lets his readers know that in Rome, prostitution was legal and sought out by men. Likewise, Juvenal speaks of the pimp sending the prostitutes home, which would tell a reader that prostitution in Rome was like prostitution today and the concept of how it was arranged should be familiar.7 In another part of the satire, Juvenal refers to Emperors as “gods’ rivals,’ which lets readers know that either Rome considered its Emperors as semi-divine or that the Emperors themselves thought of themselves as semi-gods.8 In the last section of the piece, Juvenal remarks on women sitting down to dinner and dominating the conversation with their intellect. A reader can gain from this statement that unlike in Greece, Roman women were allowed to eat meals with men and engage in conversation; they were not relegated to separate areas or segregated during meal times. In terms of the geography of the Empire, Juvenal remarks that the woman Eppia has run away to Egypt with her Gladiator lover, which means that Egypt was a part of Rome at that time. It also indicates that the time period in which Juvenal was writing was after Rome acquired Egypt as part of the Empire. Another place that Juvenal speaks of is Ethiopia, warning men to permit abortions or else end up with an Ethiopian child. This gives a reader a further indication of the boundaries of the Roman Empire.9
Juvenal’s Satire 6 also reveals something about what Romans thought about women, what negative qualities they believed woman possess, and what qualities men did not want in their wives. As Juvenal tells the story of Eppia, the woman who ran away to Egypt with her Gladiator lover, he says that women are usually fearful of sea voyages. He refers to the “cowardly breasts” of women who feel so much fear at sea that “they cannot stand on their trembling feet.”10 A reader can discern from this statement that most men thought of women as weaker and not as emotionally strong as them. A reader could also gain from parts of the satire that men thought women were superficial. The woman Eppia left her husband for a Gladiator not because he was the right man for her, but because he had the reputation of a Gladiator. Juvenal also portrays women as manipulative of their husbands, as liars to get what they want. This is revealed when Juvenal speaks of mothers in law and their own handlings of their daughters to manipulate their husbands.11 Juvenal’s feelings on the manipulations of mothers and wives could reflect a suspicion men held towards women that women were deceivers. Juvenal also criticizes women who are too athletic.12 This reveals two things to a reader in regards to what the attitudes towards women and athletics could be, as well as making it known that woman were allowed to participate to some extent in athletics. One thing Juvenal’s criticism could say about Roman perception is that athletics were, for the most part, meant largely for men since athletics were a part of war training even though women could take part in them. The other thing it could say is that men did not want their wives to be athletic and that participating in hard exercise was a masculine activity; women who were athletes had their modesty called into question because they were not acting like a woman should. In addition to athletics, what else was a woman doing that was not matronly? That might have been the question in the Roman mind. The fact, too, that a man could sell and auction off his wives possessions as Juvenal makes reference to, indicates that men were in control of the property of their wives.13 A woman in control of herself would not have to defer to her husband and would not have her property taken from her in a manner like that. This lets a reader know more about the status of women as inferior to men in Roman society.
Juvenal also makes it clear what sort of woman Roman males preferred and even lists some of the qualities that a Roman woman ought to possess to be proper. Juvenal requests that a perfect woman be “beautiful, graceful, rich, fertile, [and] let her place on her porticoes her ancestors’ statues; let her be more virginal than the Sabine women.”14 It is unreasonable to assume that every man wanted every quality Juvenal lists in the satire, just as it is irrational to think that a woman who did not possess every one of the qualities perfectly was considered an immoral woman. However, a reader can gain some idea of what some of the Roman virtues for women were. Beautiful and rich are obvious in their interpretation. The quality of being graceful indicates that women were supposed to be feminine and elegant in their form, movement, and speech. The importance of grace in a woman also points to her role as a hostess and how she was expected to act to other men and people to portray her husband in a good light. For fertility to be important in a wife indicates that having children and populating was an important value to the Romans. The reference to the statues of ancestors signifies that Romans were religious people and took their religious duties very seriously, and that part of their religious practices centered on ancestor reverence. Juvenal also emphasizes the religious nature of Roman life when he makes reference to the festival of Floralia and of the Sylvanus; Romans clearly had a life filled with designated religious festivals and rituals. In the satire, Juvenal also discusses women who attend dinner parties and share their knowledge with the other men and woman around them.15 This reveals that in Rome, women, at least the upper class ones, were somewhat educated in literature, rhetoric, and geography. It also lets a reader know that men in Rome considered themselves to be the dominant gender and held women in lower regard and expected them to act in accordance to that hierarchy. In the story of Eppia, Juvenal says that she is particularly shameless for having no “concern whatever for her homeland.”16 A reader would know from this statement and from Juvenal’s criticism of people who betray their homeland that Romans were patriotic and patriotism for their home was an expected value.
Juvenal’s satire also gives insight into some aspects of the daily life of upper class woman and the legal equality of woman. That Eppia ran away with a Gladiator could be interpreted by a reader to indicate that upper class women lived a boring life and that Eppia ran away with her Gladiator boyfriend, who was by no means a handsome man, because he and it was exciting compared to her regular life. Juvenal also writes about Cornelia, the mother of the Gracchi, and says that she used her family’s triumphs as part of her marriage dowry.17 This statement, while also saying something about Cornelia and the sort of family that she came from that they were awarded multiple triumphs and were therefore an important Roman family, also signifies that Roman women were expected to have a dowry before marriage and that their dowry was important to the quality of husband that she could obtain. The better the dowry, the more valuable the woman and therefore the better the husband she could get. Juvenal speaks of a woman named Manilia who takes frequent part in legal trials as either plaintiff or defendant.18 This story would tell a reader that Roman women could be allowed to declare a lawsuit or to defend herself if a lawsuit were called against her. It does not, however, indicate what role a male would play in the proceeding or the full limitations on a woman legally. Therefore, it could also be interpreted in a way that would give a slightly inaccurate depiction of a woman’s legal freedom in Rome. By the tone of the statement, it is clear that a woman could not be too bold with legal proceedings and it was scorned for a woman to be too dominant.
Satire 6 also gives readers information as to the way that Romans regarded sex, sexual organs, and sexual reproduction. The sexuality of women in Juvenal’s satire is clearly seen as a threat to men and some men do not trust women or the virtues of women. For a woman to commit adultery was a vice and a smear on her reputation. In fact, a reader might come away from this piece feeling that Roman women were wicked, overly sexual, and very prone to cheating on their own very faithful husbands since Juvenal does not say anything in the snippet provided about the virtue of men in comparison to women. This could mislead a reader into developing an inaccurate picture of Rome and of the balance of Roman morality. The purpose of satire could be missed completely, especially if the reader were interpreting Satire 6 to be a condemnation of women and forgetting the element of exaggeration involved in satire. It is also interesting that Juvenal describes an excited vagina as “stiff and erected.”19 This statement says a lot about what the Romans might have thought, known, or felt about the woman’s sexual organs. The fact that Juvenal describes the woman’s vagina in terms that better fit a male’s penis implies that Romans might not have completely understood the anatomy of the female body or felt that the bodies of both genders were essentially the same. It could also be interpreted to mean that Romans also felt that the body of a woman was an immature version of the male’s body, a somehow less perfected version of a man. Juvenal reflects a view that men thought that women have it better than they do, that it is the man who is taken for granted and abused by declaring that men get “so little pleasure” compared to women.20 Again, this could give a reader a misinterpretation of women and the relationship between Roman men and women. It would seem as if Rome was not a very strong patriarchal society, but rather a society based on the whims of fickle and capricious women who drink too much. Juvenal also makes the statement that the wife of the Emperor Claudius, when entertaining at the brothel, shamed her son Brittanicus when she “displayed the stomach you came from.”21 Women in Rome were very much defined by the men in their lives, sons included. This again indicates how important having children was and also that women were subordinate to the men in their lives and expected to be models for the reputation of the men in their family.
Juvenal gives a bit of an indication as to the influences of foreign cultures and the way that Romans felt about foreigners in a few of his sentences. He partially blames money and the influx of foreign ways for the corruption and degradation of Roman society.22 First, that Rome had the influence of outside cultures means that the Roman Empire was indeed a multicultural one. Second, it also means that Romans might have viewed some outside cultures as inferior because they were decadent, which establishes that Rome was not based on a society of people who valued leisure and riches and condemned them for making a person slothful. Many times, Juvenal refers to gods and goddesses by name such as Venus and Apollo that are derived from the Greeks; it is known from the inclusion of these gods and goddesses, as well as the reference to Homer, that Rome took part of its culture and religion from the Greeks.23 Romans had clear contact with foreigners and some of their foreign ways of life in Juvenal’s time, or else as he makes it seem, were altered to include new cultures and new ideas. This was not always seen as the best of things for the state of morality in Rome, as Juvenal also makes known. Foreign cultures and their ideas have, in the opinion of Juvenal and perhaps many others, taken Rome farther away from the values on which it was initially founded upon.
In fact, Juvenal writes about the old days of Rome with clear nostalgia for the way it was when it was founded, which was perhaps a way that many Romans felt. He reflects on the fact that “poverty made Latin women chaste in the old days, hard work and short time to sleep and hands calloused and hardened with wool-working, … and their husbands standing guard at the Colline Gate- that kept their humble homes from being corrupted by vice” and that Rome was now suffering the “evils of a long peace.”24 Roman’s looked to the old days as the golden age, the time when Rome was ideal and foreign influence had slowly begun to corrupt Rome. That Juvenal makes a reference to peace counters the popular notion that the Romans were a warrior group of people on the constant move to make war and dominate others. While we in the modern age might see peace as a good thing, this might not have been so to the Roman mind. Peace, as Juvenal states, has brought about laziness and corruption in the people. Roman values were therefore based on the warrior ethic and hard work at least in theory since it was clearly not always in practice. Again, this speaks to Patricians more than Plebeians because a Plebeians life was still based on hard work and labor.
Juvenal’s arguments are supported with evidence of the evil and immoral acts committed by women. Among his many examples, these women run away from their husbands, commit adultery by keeping lovers, drink too much, eat foods too rich, participate in athletics in a style too much like a man, lie to their husbands, and dominate conversations with their intellect to demean men.25 His argument is persuasive because the stories he tells do indeed give a negative picture of women regardless of if he means to criticize women or the exaggerated evidence that men use in their disapproval of women. His evidence and argument could come across as misogynistic, but it is important for any reader to take what Juvenal writes with the understanding that he is writing satire, not a factual account of true conditions or history. Juvenal also never indicates that he is writing his own personal feelings. Everything that Juvenal writes is colored with satirical humor and with his intention to persuade his audience to see his purpose. In satire, details are exaggerated in order to illicit the response that the writer wishes to incite in readers. Therefore, the document is not an entirely believable one though still certainly an entertaining and enlightening one.
Juvenal’s accounts of Rome are entertaining and informational. Despite the probable exaggeration of his assertions and their purpose to serve as satire rather than fact, Juvenal still provides a wealth of information about how Rome possibly was. He lays out some important information about the boundaries of Rome and of the cultural influences that came to define the Empire as it grew. Juvenal reflects the concerns of Roman citizens and their conditions in times of peace. Juvenal writes of the values of society as a whole that Rome was founded upon and the deviation Rome experienced from those foundation principles. He provides insight into the status of women in relation to men and what Rome valued in a woman, bits about the lives of Roman women, as well as what the role of a woman was in society and how her status was defined by the men of her family. His stories are filled with evidence of sexual dominance, sexual inequality and of a misunderstanding of actual sexual biology. Whatever Juvenal felt or meant in Satire 6, he provides an amusing and colorful image of Rome.
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Endnotes
1 Gilbert Highet, “The Life of Juvenal,” Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association 68 (1937): 485.
2 Juvenal, “69. Juvenal on women in general. Rome, 2nd cent. A.D. (Satire 6, exc. L),” Women’s Life in Greece & Rome, www.stoa.org/diotima/anthology/wlgr/wlgr-mensopinions69.shtml.
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