ON SATIRE by Ana Stowe I have a theory that irony and satire are symptoms of a c

ON SATIRE

by Ana Stowe

I have a theory that irony and satire are symptoms of a civilization in death throes (hence modern memetic warfare). There’s a striking difference in tone in Juvenal’s Satires compared to Caesar, Virgil, Nepos, etc. Juvenal was the one who coined the “bread and the circus” phrase. His reasons for writing satire included (from Wikipedia): “eunuchs getting married, elite women performing in a beast hunt, and the dregs of society suddenly becoming wealthy by gross acts of sycophancy […] [Juvenal] contends that traditional Roman virtues, such as fides and virtus, had disappeared from society to the extent that “Rome was no longer Roman.”