The Arts of Imitation in Latin Prose: Pliny's Epistles/Quintilian in Brief by Christopher Whitton

Abstract

BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTES RENDUS 175 ship, for example, the author’s overstressing of fertility as an interpretative paradigm of women’s religion.5 As Meghan DiLuzio has noted, Boëls-Janssen overemphasises the role of the priestess Flaminica Dialis as a “fertility talisman.”6 Interpreting fertility as a function of many women’s rituals and of many gods and goddesses is indeed too generalising. Therefore, Panoussi should have been more cautious in basing her interpretations on Boëls-Janssen’s conclusions (Bacchus as a fertility god, 20; descriptions of rituals of Bona Dea, Fortuna Muliebris, and Mater Matuta as showcasing the value of female sexuality and fertility, 172). Furthermore, taking for granted Tacitus’ and Suetonius’ presentation of the emperor Nero as a bride or a groom in his weddings with two cinaedi (76–77) is problematic, since both authors severely distort the portrayals of the Roman emperors in order to undermine their masculinity along with the political system that enabled such “bad” emperors to rule in Rome. It would be much more fruitful to query how and with what aims Tacitus and Suetonius introduced compromising elements from Petronius’ satirical representation of the wedding of Giton and Pannychis, as discussed by Panoussi (66–74), into their depiction of Nero’s alleged homosexual weddings.7 A more intensive scholarly dialogue with recent literature on the religions of Rome would have also allowed Panoussi to address other problematic points in the reconstruction of Roman rituals and their literary representations, for instance her assumption that a holy marriage was usually a part of mystery cults (75). Nevertheless, Brides, Mourners, Bacchae: Women’s Rituals in Roman Literature is a thought-provoking read for students and scholars, offering complex discussions of multiple levels of representations of gender, ethnicity, and women’s rituals in Roman literature. Humboldt University Berlin Darja Ï Sterbenc Erker The Arts of Imitation in Latin Prose: Pliny's EPISTLES/Quintilian in Brief. By Christopher Whitton. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2019. Pp. xviii, 557. Although the phenomenon of poetic intertextuality has been extensively discussed during the last three decades, that of prose intertextuality has yet to receive similar attention. Whitton’s learned book is an excellent contribution in this direction. It focuses on Pliny’s intertextual debt to Quintilian’s Institutio oratoria in his Epistles, which up until now had gone largely unnoticed, but at the same time it also examines many other aspects of Plinian intertextuality, including echoes of a variety of Greek and Latin authors. As a result, the value of this original and thought-provoking study lies not only in its exploration of Quintilian’s reception by his pupil and in the new light it sheds on the artistry of Pliny’s Epistles, but also, more broadly, in significantly improving our understanding of Roman rhetorical culture, prose intertextuality, and literary imitation. 5 N. Boëls-Janssen, La vie religieuse des matrones dans la Rome archaı̈que (Rome 1993). 6 M. DiLuzio, A Place at the Altar: Priestesses in Republican Rome (Princeton 2016) 23, n. 33. 7 Tacitus sought to shock his readers by depicting transgressions of gender norms in his portrayals of the emperors. Cf. Thomas Späth, “Skrupellose Herrscherin? Das Bild der Agrippina minor bei Tacitus,” in id. and B. Wagner-Hasel (eds.), Frauenwelten in der Antike: Geschlechterordnung und weibliche Lebenspraxis (Darmstadt 2000) 271. 176 PHOENIX The book starts with a few pages (xii–xvii) that present its aims and dispositio in lieu of a preface; in the following twelve chapters Whitton examines thematic clusters in Pliny’s Epistles that demonstrate his textual and ethical imitation of his teacher’s work. The first two chapters, entitled “Two Scenes from the Life of an Artist” (1–19) and “Setting the Stage” (20–68) respectively, play an introductory role. Chapter One convincingly establishes Quintilian’s intertextual presence in two letters of Pliny’s self-portrait (Ep. 1.6 and 9.36), where the latter meticulously, subtly, and minutely blends, reworks, and modifies aspects of Quintilian’s advice on writing (especially on dictation and country composition). Chapter Two, which serves as prolegomena, presents and compares the two protagonists as individuals and as authors (with the help of Ep. 2.14, 4.11, 4.13...