Gaius Petronius Arbiter was a Roman courtier during the reign of Nero. He is generally believed to be the author of the Satyricon, a satirical novel believed to have been…

A thinly-veiled exaggeration of reality, The Satyricon makes the days of doomed Herculaneum and Pompeii real – and paints unforgettable pictures of Roman excess, including Trimalchio’s famous feast.