Les vertus morales du prince : étude de la retenue de Trajan dans le Panégyrique de Pline le Jeune

Details

Supervisors

Françoise Van Haeperen

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en langues et lettres anciennes et modernes, à finalité spécialisée: sciences et métiers du livre

Abstract

enThe subject of this dissertation is the depiction of emperor Trajan’s restraint in Pliny the Younger’s Panegyric, delivered before the Senate and published in the early second century AD. In its capacity as a praise, the work celebrates the prince’s many moral qualities, most notably his ability to exercise restraint, and fashions the image of the perfect ruler. Through the study of the various aspects of this virtue which is attributed to the prince (tranquillitas, securitas, sapientia, frugalitas, abstinentia, pudor, verecundia, temperantia, moderatio, modestia and humilitas) and through the analysis of the literary motif of the refusal of honours, this research unveils the sharp outline of an imperial figure who embraces the moral principles making up the Roman social standard for restreint, earning him the status of civilis princeps and primus inter pares.