La rappresentazione dell’intervento di Cesare in battaglia come strategia narrativa nelDe bello Gallico: un’analisi stilistica

Abstract

The article scrutinises Cae­sar’s De bello Gallico narrative through offering an exhaustive analysis of one of the most relevant narrative strategies the Cae­sarian storytelling relies on: the artful representation of Cae­sar’s intervention in battle. The paper firstly illustrates how the accounts of Cae­sar’s activities during the combat are always depicted, across the seven books, as the turning point of a difficult situation for the Romans. Moreover, the article clarifies that these scenes share not only the exceptional results achieved by the commander, but also significant similarities on the diegetic, stylistic and rhetorical level. On this basis, the article argues that such analogies are part of a narrative strategy operating whenever the text describes Cae­sar’s action in a combat. A stylistic and rhetorical investigation on four exemplary cases is undertaken (Gall. 2.15-28, 3.14-15, 6.8 and 7.87); these passages are representative of the De bello Gallico general trend in depicting the author’s efforts during a struggle. The enquiry reveals that the Latin text always presents a comparable sequence of events preceding and following the account of Cae­sar’s accomplishments in battle and that similar lexicon and rhetorical figures are employed to support Cae­sar’s self-presentation as infallible commander.