SOURCE: Nisbet, R. G. M. “Persius.” In Critical Essays on Roman Literature, edited by J. P. Sullivan, pp. 39-71. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1963.

In the following essay, Nisbet provides an overview of Persius's writings.

Aules Persius died nineteen hundred years ago, on 24 November, a.d. 62: birthplace Volterra (Tuscany), rank equestrian, cause of death ‘stomachi vitium’, age 27. He left behind him six satires,¹ less than 700 lines in all, which were published by his friends and won immediate acclaim. Lucan testified that they were true poems, and whatever his faults, Lucan was a true poet. A less gifted but longer-lived contemporary, Quintilian, added his commendation many years later: multum et verae gloriae quamvis uno libro Persius meruit (10.1.94).² Though one has no great confidence in Quintilian's literary judgements (he preferred Tibullus to Propertius), it is worth knowing that at least in the ancient world Persius appealed to professorial taste. Persius's book...