Jacqueline Long, “Juvenal Renewed in Claudian’s In Eutropium,” IJCT 2 (1995-1996), pp. 321-335.

The quintessentially Roman institution of the consulate saw one eunuch, Eutropius, entered into and then erased fromits rolls in A.D. 399. Claudian, poet of the western imperial court, vilified Eutropius’ elevation and gloated over his fall in two books of vivid invective. He continually evokes the satires of Juvenal to sharpen and deepen his attack. Overtones of Satire 2 help make the scandalous sexuality Claudian attributes to Eutropius, especially in Book 1, portend disaster to the Roman state. The imperial council of Satire 4 underlies Eutropius’ council in Book 2: it centers on the epic travesty of Eutropius’ response to rebellion by Gothic troops. Through his appropriation of Juvenalian language, Claudian appropriates Juvenal’s authority for Roman outrage against perversions of Roman mores, and renews it in his own age.