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Divine Comedy? Accession Propaganda in Pliny, Epistles 10.1–2 and the Panegyric

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2010

Stanely E. Hoffer*
Affiliation:

Extract

This article investigates the use, in Pliny's official writings of imperial praise, of the theme of ‘divine comedy’ – the idea that everything is for the best in the imperial world under the ideal emperor. An examination of this prominent theme can help us understand how Pliny handled the inevitable tensions in an imperial ideology which was grounded in the opposing figures of the ‘good’ emperor who deserved deification, and the ‘bad’ emperor who deserved tyrannicide.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Stanely E. Hoffer 2006. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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