Military Glory (133–87)

This chapter provides the Latin text and a literal translation into English of the section on prayers for military glory in Juvenal’s tenth satire and a detailed critical appreciation of those lines (133-187), paying particular attention to poetic aspects such as sound, style, rhythm, diction, imagery, vividness and narrative technique, and also assessing humour, wit, irony and the force and validity of the satirical thrusts. Questions of text are considered as well, where they are of substantial importance. In this section of the poem Juvenal presents a much more comprehensive assault on the object of prayer, using three examples (Hannibal, Alexander and Xerxes). This is a vigorous and entertaining treatment, with much ridicule of the three commanders. The poet portrays the desire for glory as destructive (to others), excessive (in the case of Hannibal and Alexander) and pointless.