RATIONES RERUM 25: Articolo Giuseppe La Bua

Descrizione

Rationes Rerum 25

GIUSEPPE LA BUA
Cattivi e buoni oratori, cattive e buone abitudini. La corretta eloquentia e la ricerca del consenso nell’epistolario di Plinio il Giovane

Starting from the interpretation of silence as a mechanism of interactive communication, the article explores the notion of correct eloquence based on the emotional interaction between the speaker and his audience in oratory of the Early Empire and pays attention to Pliny the Younger’s definition and interpretation of the rhetorical mechanism of public consensus. It also focuses on the description of the performance of the vir bonus dicendi peritus in Pliny’s epistles and its impact on the attendees’ feelings. By portraying “bad” and “good” orators and censuring (or praising ) the literary tastes of his contemporaries, Pliny highlights the role of consensus, “public approval”, in the formation of the intellectuals in Early Empire aristocratic society.