Lucilius

Lucilius, usually identified as Gaius Lucilius, was a Roman satirist active in the late 2nd and early 1st centuries BCE. He is commonly regarded as the founder of Roman satire and the first major poet to compose satires in Latin.

Little is known of his life beyond his literary activity; dates are approximate, with traditional estimates placing him around 180–103 BCE. He is praised for turning personal invective and social critique into a distinct poetic form, and for his willingness to attack citizens, politics, and public life.

His works, collected under the title Satirae, survive only as fragments quoted by later authors such as Cicero, Horace, and Quintilian. Through these fragments, his programmatic aim is evident: to portray and condemn vice, affectation, and hypocrisy in Roman society, while also reflecting on literary and rhetorical pretensions.

Lucilius wrote in verse and used a range of metres, favoring concise, pungent lines and vivid scenes. His style combined humor with sharp criticism, often adopting various personae to dramatize scenes from daily life and political events.

Impact and legacy: Lucilius established the basic concerns and techniques of Roman satire—the social critique, the mockery of institutions, and the use of invective—in a way that later poets such as Horace, Persius, and Juvenal would develop. He thereby helped shape a tradition of satirical verse that would endure in Latin literature for centuries.