Portrait of Lord Melvyn Bragg, host of In Our Time

Ancient Roman satirists

Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.

2 episodes

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  1. Horace

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Horace, one of the greatest poets of his age, the origin of phrases such as carpe diem, nil desperandum and dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

    15 November 2018

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    Featuring: Emily Gowers, William Fitzgerald, Ellen O'Gorman

     
  2. Seneca the Younger

    Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Seneca: philosopher, playwright, tutor to Nero, one of the first great writers born in the new Roman empire after the fall of the Republic.

    23 February 2017

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    Featuring: Mary Beard, Catharine Edwards, Alessandro Schiesaro