SATIRES

David Timson performs Juvenal's 16 verse satires with energy, clarity, and precision. These works from the 2nd century CE are usually harsh, often personalized, diatribes against Roman--or simply human--venality and corruption. Timson's resonant voice and oratorical tones fit the rhetoric well. Occasionally, tirades are rife with homophobia, xenophobia, or misogyny and larded with scabrous and obscene turns of phrase. As these are made freshly vivid by Timson's broad accents of foppish scorn, they can become somewhat overripe and hard to take. Happily, both author and performer are more restrained in most of the pieces. Despite Timson's lucid performance, frequent topical references in a format without helpful notes may leave listeners unfamiliar with Roman people, events, and institutions more or less at sea. W.M. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2025]