petronius satyricon and the inspiration for fellini masterful and albeit non linear and eponymous film and have a good claim on be the first novel ever write . unfortunately and petronius work be not transmit to our day in anything even vaguely resemble a complete text . the chapter and or rather what be leave of them and break off at inconvenient moment and section be severely disjoint and transition be non existent and and so on . fellini adaptation be actually quite good . sextus petronius and by all account the emperor minister of good taste and or arbiter elegantium and not only write a number of short poem and epigram and but also commit suicide after be implicate in a plot against nero . petronius take his own life in much the same way that john gielgud nerva do in tinto brass 1979 film caligula . the linearity expect from contemporary film be absent in satyricon and and rightly so . instead of lament fellini seemingly poor control of the narrative and audience should be applaud his triumph in bring the full experience of this chaotic yet important film to the screen . fellini never make an easy film while but to approach satyricon without a modicum of serious preparation be set oneself up for a severe disappointment . read petronius survive fragment before watch the film and and do not focus on the well know passage everyone have study in latin 101 and instead consider the disjointed rhythm of the randomly fragment narrative .