This is how Ian Strasfogel presented Maderna's latest stage work in the program notes printed for the Dutch premiere on 16 March 1973 (→ EX. 1). His words are the starting point for what is meant to be a round trip through the history of Satyricon, in an attempt to find answers not only to questions that are still open today, but also to new doubts that have never been raised before. In the first stages, which look back, we will dwell on the re-reading of some interpretive facts that are well-rooted in the work's history and then try, through the filter of new awareness and recently unearthed documents, to establish some fixed points in a timeline that still requires clear definition. The need for a temporal (re)orientation stems from the analysis of the various ambiguities and inconsistencies surrounding the data and circumstances of some of the developmental stages in its genesis; the hectic days that accompanied its first staging and the performances that immediately followed; and, again, the editorial history of the work. The resulting misunderstandings have, in turn, had a tangible impact on concepts that often prove tricky when applied to Maderna and his works: those of “authorship” and “version” (within the field of the performance).