Nihil infinitum est nisi Oceanus (Sen. Suas. 1, 1). Il mare nelle declamazioni latine

The imagery of Ocean is well exploited in Roman historiography and rhetoric from the late Republic onwards. Notably, in the Augustan age and under the reign of Claudius, victory over sea monsters, in emulation of Alexander’s superhuman deeds, is perceived as crucial to the process of deification of the imperator. This paper explores the manipulation of the theme of Ocean in the declamation of the early imperial period. The main focus is on the use of the myth of Alexander in Seneca the Elder’s first suasoria, where the moralistic reading of Alexander’s trans-oceanic expedition sounds like an invitation, in “pedagogical” terms, to respect the modus imposed on human ambition by natural law. The analysis of the poetic description of Germanicus’ expedition by Albinovanus Pedo (Sen. suas. 1, 15), in conjunction with the pseudo-Senecan Laus Caesaris (Anth. 419-426 Riese), corroborates a moralistic interpretation of the notion of prolatio imperii. The imperial control over natural forces, exemplified by Claudius’ triumphalist self-presentation as a “second” Alexander, is ironically regarded as a violation of the boundaries of human knowledge.