The six verse satires by Aulus Persius Flaccus (34-62 AD) seem like a modern text (e.g. Arno Schmidt) due to the poet's unconventional use of metaphors and intertextual references as well as the mixture of emphatically sophisticated poetic diction with colloquial language. Like the verse satires of his predecessor Horace, they are morally critical, but the instruction is ironically coloured in its own way and exemplifies misconduct through extremely...