RATIONES RERUM 25

Gennaio – Giugno 2025

Maurizio Sonnino
Eur. Andr. 1189-1193: osservazioni critico-testuali
pp. 11-35
The article provides a new analysis of Eur. Andr. 1189-1193, a text that has been interpreted in various ways from antiquity to the present day. After outlining the status quaestionis, in § 2 the three interpretations proposed by scholiasts are listed, along with the reasons that make them unacceptable. The third paragraph outlines the main interpretations attempted by modern scholars and, once again, explains why none of them is acceptable. Finally, a new exegetical proposal is advanced, which consists in eliminating the proper name Ἑρμιόνας (v. 1192), interpreting it as a gloss improperly inserted into the text (a rather common type of error). This results in a perfectly understandable text, with a four-syllable gap at v. 1192, for which a reconstruction is offered based on a comparison with Eur. Andr. 103-116, a text that ser ves as a counterpart to Peleus’ threnos (vv. 1189-1193).

 

Vanna Maraglino
Le lettere di Nicola Festa ai fratelli Orvieto e la collaborazione con «Il Marzocco»
pp. 37-71
The correspondence between Nicola Festa and Angiolo and Adolfo Orvieto, preserved at the Gabinetto Vieusseux in Florence, is published here for the first time.  The letters enable us to reconstruct Festa’s collaboration with the journal «Il Marzocco» and shed light on his biography and his relationship with the Florentine cultural milieu between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

 

Virgilio Costa
Le citazioni poetiche negli oratori attici
pp. 79-94
Ancient rhetorical treatises recommend that aspiring orators read poetry, because it provides a variety of figures of speech and diction, as well as a sensitivity to rhythm. Nevertheless, there are very few explicit quotations from poetry in speeches from the fifth to fourth centuries BC that have survived. The article offers some explanations for this situation, linking it to the ever-difficult relationship between the speaker and his audience.

 

Cinzia Bearzot
Memoria, timoria, orghé vs. oblio del male subìto e perdono. Retorica ed emozioni nei primi anni della restaurazione democratica ateniese
pp. 95-107
The article considers Lysias’ use, in speeches 12, 13, and 34, of the themes of memory, resentment, and revenge in relation to the oligarchic experience of the Thirty Tyrants, attempting to engage the judges on an emotional but also (and especially) political level.

Henriette van der Blom
Orator-audience dynamics in Valerius Maximus’ Facta et dicta
pp. 109-131
Orator-audience dynamics are central to the modern debate about Roman republican politics, focusing on the contio. The contional speech occasion was a two-way communication, allowing audiences (some) agency. Valerius’ Facta et dicta (27-31 AD) includes significant material to complement that of Cicero. Taking the methodological issues of Valerius’ work into account, this article discusses two descriptions of orator-audience dynamics in the Roman contio: Scipio Aemilianus in 129 BC and Aemilius Scaurus in 90 BC. Both provide valuable insights, such as the possibility of reversing the hostility of a crowd by praising its identity and highlighting its crucial role in the Roman state, and that Valerius’ stories apparently generated some interest at a time when the contio had lost most of its political influence.

 

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
pp. 133-145
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.

 

Graziana Brescia
Visiones di parricidio. Lo sguardo della mente e la complicità tra declamatore e uditorio ([Quint.] Decl. min. 314)
pp. 147-164
The article analyzes the rhetorical techniques used in [Quint.] Decl. min. 314 to make the crimen parricidii credible and apparent to the judges. A central point is the breaking of the fourth wall, which involves the audience directly in the text’s imaginary scenario. The audience’s invitation to imagine is crucial to constructing the idolopeia of the father’s ghost, which appears to the guilty son, forcing him to confront his responsibilities. This hallucination, caused by a disturbed conscience, generates pathos and enables the perception of the Furies’ rationalization process as a symbol of the parricides’ sense of guilt: an idea already developed in Cicero’s Pro Roscio Amerino, which ser ves as the hypotext for this declamation.

Charles Guérin
Taedium levare. Noia e attenzione del pubblico nella retorica latina classica
pp. 165-191
Audience boredom (taedium) is a fundamental pitfall for orators. Latin rhetoric developed various strategies to counter it, considering boredom to be primarily the result of a lack of attention. The article examines how the rhetorical approach to boredom evolved from the Rhetorica ad Herennium to the Institutio oratoria. It demonstrates how the understanding of audience attention gradually became more complex, evolving from an approach based on the will to listen to one based on the capacity to understand. Thus, Quintilian built upon Cicero’s ideas and presented a thorough analysis by using for the first time the notion of intentio. Intentio, or the ability to con- centrate, diminishes over time and must be sustained primarily through the speech’s perfect clarity. Based on this insight, Quintilian offered a solution to boredom involving a balanced combination of stimulation through surprise and aesthetic pleasure, as well as intelligibility through structure.

 

Andrea Balbo
Ista ratione schemata de rerum natura tolluntur (Sen. Contr. 7 praef. 7). Parole mal dette, equivoci sciocchi, errori e travisamenti nell’oratoria romana frammentaria tra la fine del I secolo a.C. e l’inizio del I d.C.
pp. 193-213
The article examines some cases of bad communication or genuine mistakes in Roman oratory during the early years of the Empire, dealing also with some pragmatic and juridical elements that can explain the speakers’ poor attitude.

 

Alfredo Casamento
Elogio della solitudine. L’oratore tra folla e silenzio nel giudizio di Quintiliano
pp. 215-232
In Institutio oratoria 10, 3 Quintilian reflects on the importance of speakers having sufficient time and space to prepare their speeches. In this extensive section, he discusses the need for moments of isolation and solitude, as it is only through these that the concentration necessary to immerse oneself in the crowded space of the forum – the natural place of the speaker – can be achieved.

 

Francesca Romana Nocchi
Gaffes e atti mancati in Quint. Inst. 6, 1, 39-41
pp. 233-254
The orator, comparable to a stage director, carefully constructs his performance through rhetorical and emotional techniques to command the communicative scene. Yet failure arises when emotional dynamics or contextual cues are misjudged, or when rhetorical display slips into excess, rendering the speaker unintentionally ridiculous. As Quintilian notes (Inst. 6, 1, 39-41), attempts at clever effects may backfire, exposing their theatrical mechanisms and alienating the audience. In such moments, laughter – intended as a weapon against the opponent – turns against the speaker, eroding credibility and disrupting audience rapport. The orator must therefore navigate the subtle boundary between effective engagement and overacting. The performative nature of rhetoric emerges as both a powerful resource and a source of potential risk, capable of undermining the speaker’s authority, when not carefully managed.

 

Sergio Casali, Conclusioni, p. 255

 

Libri ricevuti, p. 281
Abstracts, p. 285
Indice analitico (a cura di Carlo Di Giovine), p. 289
Istruzioni per gli autori, p. 293

Indici dei numeri 1-24
Indice degli autori, p. 301
Indice degli studi recensiti, p. 329
Indice analitico, p. 337
Sommario dei numeri 1-24, p. 379

 

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