Sermones 2.1 stages a dialectic between satire and the law through a dialogue between a satirist, Horace, and a jurist, Gaius Trebatius Testa. At stake is the relative power of the two rival discourses and what each says about contemporary politics. Caesar Augustus has recently consolidated power and put an end to civil war, changing what people could say in public. Through allusion to more and less familiar laws, Horace explores the extent to which freedom of speech still existed. Although he presents his position as impotent before the law, his friendship with Caesar trumps Trebatius’ legal formalism. The power of the satirist has been reduced from wicked humor to the license to point out the restriction in his voice—a critique whose gentleness masks its wit.