Petronius
Gaius Petronius Arbiter (c. 66 AD; sometimes Titus Petronius Niger) was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been written during the Neronian era.
Also recorded as Gaius Petronius Arbiter · Publius Petronius Niger · Titus Petronius Niger · Petronius Arbiter
Petronius
P. Bodart · GoogleBooks · Public domain
- Name
- Petronius
- Born
- c. 27 AD
- Birthplace
- Massalia (ancient Marseille)
- Died
- c. 66 AD (aged c. 38–39)
- Place of death
- Cumae
- Occupation
- Novelist
- Nationality
- Ancient Rome.
- Known for
- Satyricon.
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Petronius. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
gnd · 120880725 · gnd · 300262337 · wikidata · Q47180 · wikipedia · Petronius
In this article
Biography
Biography
He is one of the most important characters in Henryk Sienkiewicz's historical novel Quo Vadis (1895). Leo Genn portrays him in the 1951 film of the same name.
Satyricon-Ausgabe von Pierre Pithou, Paris, 1587 (= Schmeling/Stuckey Nr. 19), Titelblatt
Photo: Thomas Völker, Berlin. · (Original text: Exemplar im Eigentum des Einstellers). Original uploader was Thomas Völker at de.wikipedia
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Petronius • Born — c. 27 AD • Birthplace — Massalia (ancient Marseille) • Died — c. 66 AD (aged c. 38–39) • Place of death — Cumae • Occupation — Novelist • Notable Works — The Satyricon
Life
Life
• Illustration — Leo Genn as Petronius in the 1951 film Quo Vadis A reference to Petronius by Sidonius Apollinaris places him, or his Satyricon, in Massalia (ancient Marseille). He might have been born and educated there. Tacitus, Plutarch and Pliny the Elder describe Petronius as the elegantiae arbiter (also phrased arbiter elegantiarum), "judge of elegance", in the court of the emperor Nero. He served as suffect consul in 62. Later, he became a member of the senatorial class who devoted himself to a life of pleasure. His relationship to Nero was apparently akin to that of a fashion advisor. Tacitus gives this account of Petronius in his historical work the Annals (XVI.18): None of the ancient sources give any further detail about his life, or mention that he was a writer. However, a medieval manuscript written around 1450 of the Satyricon credited a "Titus Petronius" as the author of the original work. Traditionally, this reference is linked with Petronius Arbiter, since the novel appears to have been written or at least set during his lifetime. The link, however, remains speculative and disputed.
Death
Death
• Illustration — The Death of Petronius (Piotr Stachiewicz, c. 1900) Petronius' high position soon made him the object of envy for those around him. Having attracted the jealousy of Tigellinus, the commander of the emperor's guard, he was accused of treason. He was arrested at Cumae in 65 AD but did not wait for a sentence. Instead, he chose to take his own life. Tacitus again records his elegant suicide in the sixteenth book of the Annals: According to Pliny the Elder: "T. Petronius, a consular, when he was going to die through Nero's jealousy and envy, broke his fluorspar wine-dipper so that the emperor's table would not inherit it. It had cost 300,000 sesterces". T. Petronius and G. Petronius have been said to have been the same man.
Identity and origins
Identity and origins
He also worked under the name arbiter elegantiae. His recorded language was Latin.
As a writer
Petronius's development of his characters in the Satyricon, namely Trimalchio, transcends the traditional style of writing of ancient literature. In the literature written during Petronius's lifetime, the emphasis was always on the typical considerations of the plot, which had been laid down by classical rules. The character, which was hardly known in ancient literature, was secondary. Petronius goes beyond these literary limitations in his exact portrayals of detailed speech, behaviour, surroundings, and appearance of the characters. Another literary device Petronius employs in his novel is a collection of specific allusions. The allusions to certain people and events are evidence that the Satyricon was written during Nero's time: "The references to contemporary figures, the economic and social conditions offered by the novel, the legal arguments, and above all the literary connections with the younger Seneca and with Lucan, have combined to make this Neronian date highly probable." These also suggest that it was aimed at a contemporary audience which consisted in part of Nero's courtiers and even Nero himself. The message Petronius tries to convey in his work is far from moral and does not intend to produce reform, but is written above all to entertain and should be considered artistically. Nevertheless, his writings can be a valuable tool to better comprehend the customs and ways of life of Roman society at that particular time, since the author strives to preserve the plausibility of his representation, as can be noted by the frequent use of allusions and detailed descriptions of characters and behaviours. As the title implies, the Satyricon is a satire, specifically a Menippean satire, in which Petronius satirizes nearly everything, using his taste as the only standard. It is speculated that Petronius's depiction of Trimalchio mirrors that of Nero. Although the author's own opinion is never alluded to, the opinions of the characters involved in the story are evident, as is how Encolpius criticizes Trimalchio.
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Petronius”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q47180: Petronius
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 120880725, Petronius, Salernitanus.
General reference · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Petronius, revision 1373746586 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1."Gaius Petronius Arbiter". Britannica.com.
- 2.MacQueen. Cultural Crossroads in the Ancient Novel. De Gruyter. 11. 2017. 9781501503986.
- 3.Momigliano, Arnaldo. Alien Wisdom The Limits of Hellenization. Cambridge University Press. 50. 1990. 9780521387613.
- 4.Atkins, John. Sex in Literature Volume 2. Calder and Boyars. 129. 1973. 9780714509198.
- 5.American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Memoirs of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Volume 6. The Academy. 1780.
- 6.Rudich, Vasily. Dissidence and Literature Under Nero The Price of Rhetoricization. Taylor & Francis. 327. 2013. 9781134680825.
- 7.Paul Gallivan, "Some Comments on the Fasti for the Reign of Nero", Classical Quarterly, 24 (1974), p. 302
- 8.Petronius. 21. 333–335.
- 9.Petronius. The Satyricon. Oxford University Press. 2017. 978-0-19-953921-5.
- 10.Romm, James. Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero. Vintage Books. 196. 11 March 2014. 978-0-307-74374-9.
- 11.Rudich, Vasily. Dissidence and Literature Under Nero: The Price of Rhetoricization. Routledge. 20 March 1997. 978-0415095013.
Bibliography printed in the source article · 16
- Breitenstein, Natalie, Petronius, Satyrica 1–15. Text, Übersetzung, Kommentar (2009. Berlin – New York: De Gruyter) (Texte und Kommentare, 32).
- Conte, Gian Biagio, The Hidden Author: An Interpretation of Petronius' Satyricon (1997. Berkeley: University of California Press).
- Connors, Catherine, Petronius the Poet: Verse and Literary Tradition in the Satyricon (1998. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
- Habermehl, Peter, Petronius, Satyrica 79–141. Ein philologisch–literarischer Kommentar. Band I: Satyrica 79–110. Berlin: de Gruyter. 2006.
- Habermehl, Peter, Petronius, Satyrica 79–141. Ein philologisch–literarischer Kommentar. Band II: Satyrica 111–118. Berlin: de Gruyter. 2020.
- Habermehl, Peter, Petronius, Satyrica 79–141. Ein philologisch–literarischer Kommentar. Band III: Bellum civile (Sat. 119–124). Berlin: de Gruyter. 2021.
- Jensson, Gottskalk, The Recollections of Encolpius. The Satyrica of Petronius as Milesian Fiction (2004. Groningen: Barkhuis Publishing and Groningen University Library) (Ancient narrative Suppl. 2).
- Prag, Jonathan and Ian Repath (eds), Petronius: A Handbook (2009. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell).
- Reeve, Michael D. 1983. Petronius. In Texts and Transmission: A Survey of the Latin Classics. Edited by Leighton D. Reynolds, 295–300. Oxford: Clarendon.
- Repath, Ian. 2010. "Plato in Petronius: Petronius in Platanona". The Classical Quarterly, 60(2), new series, 577–595.
- Rose, Kenneth F. C. 1971. "The Date and Author of the Satyricon". Mnemosyne, Bibliotheca Classica Batava, Supplementum 16. Leiden, The Netherlands: E. J. Brill.
- Schmeling, Gareth. 2011. A Commentary on the Satyrica of Petronius. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
- Slater, Niall W. 1990. Reading Petronius. Baltimore and London: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
- Sullivan, John P. 1985. "Petronius' Satyricon and its Neronian Context". In Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel der neuren Forschung, Vol. II, Part 32.3. Edited by Hildegard Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, 1666–1686. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
- Vannini, Giulio, Petronius 1975–2005: bilancio critico e nuove proposte (2007. Goettingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht) (Lustrum, 49).
- Vannini, Giulio, Petronii Arbitri Satyricon 100–115. Edizione critica e commento (2010. Berlin – New York: De Gruyter) (Beiträge zur Altertumskunde, 281).
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
reference work
Secondary witnessauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 120880725, Petronius, Salernitanus.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Secondary witnessreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q47180: PetroniusWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witness
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Petro PanchAuthor
- Petro TrochanowskiAuthor
- Petronella Johanna de TimmermanAuthor
- Petronella MoensAuthor
- Petros AdamianAuthor
- Petros Brailas-ArmenēsAuthor
- Petros DuryanAuthor
- Petros MarkarisAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Petronius?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.