Il linguaggio della satira nell'epistolario pliniano

Starting from Pliny the Younger’s self-portrait as a neoteric and epigrammatic poet, this paper discusses the use of satiric themes and language in the epistolary corpus. It focuses on the Plinian practice of indignatio as constantly related to the nostalgic re-evocation of an idealized, aristocratic past. Without resembling the tones of Juvenal’s satirical invective, Pliny deploys satiric topics and language to censure the modern mores, seen as a potential threat to the aristocratic notion of Romanitas. As both a good observer and judge of his own age, he denounces the contemporary distortions and deviations from the values shared by the members of the early empire aristocratic society. In doing so, Pliny recalls the satirical character of Martial’s poetry and depicts himself as a public engaged figure, concerned with the preservation of the true, authentic Roman mores.