Plinio il Giovane e la creazione di una moderna idea di luxuria

This paper revisits the notion of otium, leisure time, in Pliny’s epistolary world and concentrates on its significance to the formation of an aristocratic code, founded on the harmonic fusion of intellectual, private, pleasures and active participation in the political and public life of the early empire. It also observes how Pliny the Younger refashions the traditional idea of ‘material’ luxuria, intended as search for wealth in the name of elegantia and moderation. Luxuria mentis, time devoted to literature as a sign of social distinction, and a restrained use of luxury goods integrate into each other to create a modern image of vir bonus. By re-evaluating the role of otium and propounding a moderate luxuria as a symbol of true nobilitas, Pliny proposes himself as a new model of intellectual and public persona, longing for a status of auctoritas through a measured combination of literary activity, public engagement, and desire for material properties.