In only the second paragraph, I found the first mention of foreigners. Juvenal’s friend, Umbricius, is leaving Rome “and the thousand perils of this terrible city” for Cumae, described as “a sweet retreat upon a pleasant shore”. Juvenal’s third satire is written as the two friends in farewell conversation. Umbricius pauses at the “dripping archway” of the “Porta Capena” and reminisces on how one of the former kings, Numa, and his mistress used to dwell here, at this “holy fount and grove and shrine”. He then proceeds to say that this place is now inhabited by Jews and indicates that they are uncivilized with their “basket and a truss of hay” as their sole possessions. This racist quote is Juvenal saying that Jews are not good enough to live in a place of such beauty and importance.
Another incidence of racism is when Juvenal speaks of patron to client visits and asks whether it is right that a Greek “who has been wafted to Rome” should be allowed to have a higher treatment than him. A Greek should not be permitted to “recline upon a couch better than mine” or “sign his name before me”. He is implying that other races are inferior to the Romans, especially the Greeks.
The last occurrence of Juvenal writing about foreigners in a racist form, his third satire, is during a mugging. During this crime, the crook asks of the victim’s race and religion.
“What, sirrah, no answer?”
“In what prayer shop shall I find you?”
From this context it is know that Juvenal was speaking of the Jews. Between the beatings of his victim he attempts to uncover proof that he is not Jewish or foreign at all.
“Say where it is you stand”
It is apparent that to be Jewish in that time was unacceptable and filthy. Juvenal’s attitude here was later used by Charles Dickens in his story of ‘Oliver Twist’. The crook ringleader, Fagin, who is constantly referred to as the Jew, was described as being vile and repulsive in appearance. His role in the novel, as indicated by Dickens himself, was for Fagin to be “a thief and receiver of stolen goods” and he made a living by “leading children into crime”. This “self-centered and inhuman figure” was Dickens’ own thoughts of Jews. Although he lived many years after Juvenal, Dickens’ outlook on Jews is almost identical to the thoughts of the satirist.
The Roman view on foreigners has always been negative, although much of it has to do with the love for the great city of Rome. Commonly known is the incident in the bible where Moses’ mother places him in a basket and sends him down the river with high hopes for his safety. She does this to prevent the Roman’s from killing her baby as word had gotten to the emperor of Moses, a future emperor and his replacement. Moses was a foreigner and, once again, his race was scowled upon for being different.
In the last line of the second paragraph, Juvenal is basically saying how nice it would it be if this area were how it used to be. It has been said,
“He didn't like it. It was too multicultural. He wanted to return to the good old days when Romans were Romans.”
Although in one way, he is being racist in saying that he would like the Jews to leave, he is actually only saying that his country could and should be better than it is. In this sense, this should be taken as patriotism over racism.
In the next mention of foreigners, Juvenal writes about “a Rome of Greeks” and how Greece has brought “its lingo and its manners and its flutes and its slanting harp-strings”. He also mentions how Romans dress in “Greek fangled slippers” and other Greek articles and accessories. It has been said that Juvenal thought that,
“The more influential or fashionable the foreign culture, the more he disliked it. He especially hated Greeks, because they were elite foreigners, like modern European professors in American universities.”
He thinks that there is too much Greek influence in Rome. He seems to be ashamed for his country that they are not as stylish or advanced as the Greeks. For example, Juvenal mentions how the first man to fly, Daedalus, was not a Roman, but “born in the very heart of Athens”. His patriotic shame and desire for Rome’s excellence is quite apparent.
Another phrase that shows the patriotism of Juvenal’s writings on foreigners is as follows:
“Is it to go so utterly for nothing that as a babe I drank in the air of the Aventine and was nurtured on the Sabine berry”
as opposed to Greek “damsons and figs”?. He is indicating that to be born, raised and live in a country as wonderful as Rome, is far greater than if one was experiencing this in Greece.
In the next couple paragraphs, Juvenal writes reasons for his dislike of the Greeks. The first thing that he found unjust was that Romans “can praise the same things that they do; but what they say is believed”. He then continues to call the Greeks “a nation of play actors”, because of the way that they copy then exaggerate everything. He also mentions many different occupations and says that a Greek can be whichever one of those he wants, at any time. The Greeks used those tactics to win the favor of the high standing Romans and Juvenal points out that
“nowhere is it as easy as at Rome to throw an old client overboard”
and he says that he can be
“thrust from the door and all my long years of servitude go for nothing”.
If a Greek attempts this in vain, he will instead try to “discover the secrets of the family” to use as blackmail. There was always a high probability of him succeeding in this, as “there is nothing sacred to his lusts” and they would sleep with anyone male, female, old, young, to “make themselves feared” with the information which they gained from their lovers. Although these quotes may first come across as racist, they seem to have a more patriotic meaning. Juvenal is basically trying to portray the fact that although the Greeks were frauds and completely egocentric, they still managed to obtain more, in Rome, than the Romans of good birth and good character. Juvenal does not find this just and thinks that Rome and its people deserve more than these imposters do.
Their history is just as bad as their actions. In a true Roman’s eyes, to have a Greek background is appalling. Juvenal compares it to being brothel born, or the son of an auctioneer, or the son of a gladiator. As well as this he also says that to be the son of a teacher, who are Greeks, is worse than being any of these “sons of panders”. Although, regardless of their breeding, any of these can easily become a “Knight” if the righteous people’s “means do not satisfy the law”. Juvenal thinks that the high-class, wealthy citizen’s of Rome should be Romans. To have Greeks and others running the high ranks of this foreign land was not acceptable, as they had their own country for their own people. He was trying to get the point across that Rome should be left for the Romans.
When I first read through this satire, my thoughts turned to how incredibly racist Juvenal’s quotes on the foreigners were. After reading it through repeatedly, I realized that Juvenal was being more patriotic than he was racist. He was worried that Romans would not be remembered as the great civilization that they were, because the city of Rome was swarming with foreigners. Occasionally Juvenal lashed out at a particular group of foreigners, but mainly, the satiric targets were due to patriotic shame. Juvenal’s patriotic outlook towards improving the standard of living in his country is laudable. Juvenal’s dislike of foreigners seems to have more to do with status than with race. After thoroughly analyzing this text, I conclude that Juvenal’s attitude towards foreigners, in his third satire, was intended to be more patriotic than it was to be racist.
Servius first wrote him about, during this time.
Main road leading South out of Rome.
“Proseucha” Latin for a Jewish synagogue/prayer-house.
The sambuca; A triangular harp that produced a shrill sound.
The Greeks being referred to here as “they”
This is the lowest rank possible
