Juvenal, in his famous Satire 3, seems to attack contemporary Rome, measuring its citizens against the moral standards that prevailed during the early years of the Roman republic.

Juvenal is the source of many well-known maxims, including: that the common people—rather than caring about their freedom—are only interested in “bread and circuses” (panem et circenses 10.81; i.e.

food and entertainment), that—rather than for wealth, power, or children—men should pray for a “sound mind in a sound body” (mens sana in corpore sano 10.356), that a perfect wife is a “rare bird” (rara avis in terris nigroque simillima cycno 6.165; a rare bird in the earth and most similar to a black swan) and the troubling question of who can be trusted with power—“who will watch the watchers?” or "who will guard the guardians themselves?"

(quis custodiet ipsos custodes 6.347-48).