ABSTRACT
Rarely in Roman satire do we hear a woman’s voice: the speaking role of Laronia in Juvenal’s second Satire is an exception which this paper seeks to explore.1 Laronia is brought on stage (so to speak) to participate in the condemnation of hypocritical homosexuals. She speaks for just twenty-five lines of a poem one hundred and seventy lines long. What is her role in Satire 2? To what extent is she an autonomous character and to what extent is hers an authentic female voice?2
