“Myself, I prefer life without fires, without nocturnal panics. By the time the smoke’s reached the third floor – and you’re still asleep – the heroic downstairs neighbour is roaring for water, shifting his stuff to safety.” (sat.3 ll 197 – 200)
These shoddily built apartment blocks can also be seen today. In inner city London the poorer end of society are housed in high-rise blocks of flats built cheaply and quickly by the council to supply the ever-growing demand for housing. However these buildings are now supported by a much more efficient fire serviced which responds to emergency calls in a matter of minutes. Few people die nowadays in fires of the sort that Juvenal has described.
Another point made by Juvenal is the increase in crime levels in the city. He is an old Roman traditionalist and does not take kindly to change of any sort particularly that which, in his view, is ruining his city. He comments on the swelling numbers of prisons indicating that issues with crime are not being solved.
“our anvils are weighted down with chains - that’s where most of our iron goes nowadays” (sat. 3 ll.309-310)
Today we can see a similar state of affairs. Prisons are being opened and not shut. Politicians are forever discussing the growing numbers of prisoners and where to put them. This shows that even in our society we have not solved crime. There are still those members of the general public who find it acceptable to commit crimes for their own pleasure, completely disregarding the respect they should have for other people and their belongings.
“there are still cat-burglars in plenty waiting to rob you, or else you’ll be knifed – a quick job – by some street-apache.” (sat. 3 ll.304-305)
This is still the status quo within most cities; it is dangerous to go out alone at night and unadvisable to walk through unlit alley ways. Suspicious characters often lurk in such places waiting to ambush the innocent passer-by and gain advantage and lavishness in their own lives by illegal means:
“gardens, palaces, furniture, those antique silver cups with their prancing repoussé goats – crime paid for the lot of them.” (sat.1 ll.75-77)
This leads me on to look at the matter of money. Money has always been an issue for the human mind. It throws up questions of status both in today’s society and for Juvenal. Traditionally in Rome those with more money had higher status both politically and socially and vice versa. Conversely Juvenal thinks this is no longer the case. He claims in his satires that Rome has become a city which favours money over status meaning that those freedmen who have money can have a higher social standing than the leader of a well-established political family who has landed on hard times. Material possessions have become an important factor in political standing and advancement and your family background was less so now. Purple was an expensive luxury to be added to clothes. Usually it was used just as a border on togas due to its rarity. It was made by crushing oyster shells and due to the sheer number of oysters required to make so little dye it was highly expensive. Previously the use of it on clothes was restricted to the royal family and as such the colour was known as “Imperial purple”. Juvenal comments now that any old citizen is able to use this substance as long as they can afford it:
“So what’s in a purple border, what’s it really worth, if a Corvinus is reduced to herding sheep up-country, while I have more in the bank than any Imperial favourite?” (sat. 1 ll 106-109)
Today, money causes many problems. It was once the case in England that the higher social class was exclusively for those with the correct family background to belong. Now material possessions are exceedingly important and money can buy you far more in social standing than in years gone by. We have developed into people who are fixated by the idea that we can have the big house, the two cars and even aspire to more. Those who were once the “working class” have used money to boost themselves into the “middle class”. As a result the stiff class structure that once to dominate British society has now changed and become less rigid. This has benefited the poorer but those who would once have ridden on the back of the family name with the high flyers of society now need money, a good job and exemplary assests to maintain their position.
Juvenal’s satires are still very relevant to the modern reader. Sex, crime, money, education and class are still discussed today. He uses mockery in humour that people can relate to, people wish they could speak about the problems we face in everyday life with the same criticism and get away with it. Although Juvenal’s topics are taken from the times of the Roman empire they can be translated into modern times. The corruption that he speaks of as being the corruption of Rome is now the corruption of the world. He states that “Rome now is a selfish society” (sat. 10) but that is true of the world today. His ‘ordered disorder’ appeals to the modern reader and his satires still have a lot of relevance to today's society.
