Non-sleeping satirists : watchful eye(s) and insomnia

Abstract

All Roman verse satire involves direct social observation —albeit from a subjective and critical viewpoint: that of the observer (i.e. the satirist), to be sure, but one that is comprehensive in its own way–, usually in the sense of eye-witnessing the wickedness prevailing in its contemporary Roman society, and occasionally even in the anti-soporific –yet, still vision-related– sense of experiencing satire-induced insomnia episodes, occurring when conspicuous cases of vice or folly –only to be detected by the satirist’s open eye(s)–, along with racing thoughts resulting from such visual stimuli, arouse the satirist’s moral sensitivity, and thus prevent him from sleeping.