Disjecta membra Disjecta membra , also written , is Latin for "scattered fragments" (also scattered limbs, members, or remains) and is used to refer to surviving fragments of ancient poetry, manuscripts, and other literary or cultural objects, including even fragments of ancient pottery. It is derived from , a phrase used by Horace, a Roman poet. Fragments of ancient writing, especially ancient Latin poetry found in other works are commonly referred to as "disjecta membra". The terms "disiecta membra" and "disjecta membra" are paraphrased from the Roman lyric poet Horace (65 BC – 8 BC), who wrote of in his "Satires", 1.4.62,
Satires (Juvenal) discretion. The author makes constant allusion to history and myth as a source of object lessons or exemplars of particular vices and virtues. Coupled with his dense and elliptical Latin, these tangential references indicate that the intended reader of the "Satires" was highly educated. The "Satires" are concerned with perceived threats to the social continuity of the Roman citizens: social-climbing foreigners, unfaithfulness, and other more extreme excesses of their own class. The intended audience of the "Satires" constituted a subset of the Roman elite, primarily adult males of a more conservative social stance. Scholarly estimates for the dating of the