Petronius (Loeb)

"His success stirred the jealousy of Tigellinus, who feared a potential rival—a professor of pleasure better equipped than himself. Playing on the emperor’s lust for cruelty, to which all other passions were secondary, he bribed a slave to turn informant, charged Petronius with his friendship for Scaevinus, denied him the opportunity to defend himself, and threw most of his household into prison.

"At that time, the court had migrated to Campania, and Petronius had reached Cumae when his arrest was ordered. He scorned waiting for the lingering suspense of hope or fear, yet he did not wish to take a brusque farewell to life. An incision was made in his veins; they were bound up under his direction and opened again, all while he conversed with his friends—not on the gravest of themes, nor in the tone of a dying hero. He listened to no lectures on the immortality of the soul or the dogmas of philosophy, but to frivolous songs and playful verses. Some of his slaves were rewarded with his bounty, others with the lash. He sat down to dinner and then drowsed a little, so that his death, if mandatory, would at least be natural. Even in his will, he broke with the routine of suicide; he did not flatter Nero, Tigellinus, or any other of the mighty. Instead, he detailed the emperor’s enormities, added a list of his catamites catamites: boys used for pederastic purposes, his women, and his various innovations in lasciviousness. He then sealed the document, sent it to Nero, and broke his signet ring to prevent it from being used to endanger others."

The realization arises at once that, given the nature of the Satyricon, this kind of book requires this kind of author. The loose tongue, the lightheartedness, and the love of style are common to both. If books reveal the characteristics of their writers...