Il programma poetico di Lucilio: ipotesi sul XXVI libro delle satire

Abstract

In the two most reliable reconstructions of the 26th book of Lucilius (in fact, the first which the poet composed on his debut), Christes (1971) and Garbugino (1990) adopt a careful analysis of Nonius Marcellus' quotation system in order to identify the thematic structure of the original text. A review of their results confirms the validity of their methodology and the usefulness of the so-called lex Lindsay for the rearrangement of Lucilius' textual remains but, at the same time, it suggests a partially different reconstruction. There is no philological reason to adhere to the idea that the 26th book opened with a proemial satire of programmatic content, which has been the communis opinio since Marx and Cichorius; the new analysis might rather suggest that all the poetological fragments cluster in the second half of the book, where the threefold thematic sequence Critique of tragic poetry-Apology of satire-Recusatio of epic poetry seems to outline the structure of a long, single satire in dialogue form and dealing with literature. In this satire, the definition of Lucilius' favourite genre holds the central place between the sections devoted to the other two genres, tragic and epic poetry, both of which the poet rejects on different grounds