PETRONIUS. In the surviving manuscript, the authorship of the Latin picaresque novel Satyrica is credited to "Petronius Arbiter." Most scholars believe (although conclusive evidence is lacking) that this is Gaius (or Titus) Petronius, who served the Roman emperor Nero as Arbiter Elegantiae (judge of elegance, or director of entertainment). He fell from the emperor's favor and was ordered to commit suicide in A.D. 66. The historian Tacitus describes the courtier's death in his Annals (book 18, sections 18–19).

The Satyrica is a novel of low life in Roman Italy, centering on the narrator Encolpius and his boyfriend Giton. The author may seem to celebrate—he certainly does not condemn—his characters' amoral lifestyle: they are usually penniless and often involved in disreputable sexual adventures.

In medieval Europe the Satyrica was a secret classic. No complete copy survived to...