Abstract
This article analyzes various passages from Claudian’s and Gorippus’s political poems (Claud., Ruf., 2; Theod.; Stil., 3; VI Hon.; Goripp., Laud. Iust. Min., 3) which describe hunting games in the Roman arena (venationes) and have communicative aims: they either praise officeholders (consuls, generals, and emperors), or they criticize their opponents. This theme plays a fundamental role in early imperial poetry. But while early imperial poets (Calpurnius, Statius, Martial, and Juvenal) convey their message of praise or invective with briefer passages, Claudian and Gorippus present concatenated scenes, with the effect of increasingly persuading and impressing the reader. The role of the venatorial subject in Christian poets such as Prudentius (Prud., Ham.; c. Symm.) will be treated as well. Finally, this essay aims to establish when venationes are last attested in (late) Roman poetry.
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