Le prove testimoniali nell’Apologia di Apuleio

Abstract

In Apuleius’ Apologia the witnesses play a relevant role and indeed, in some cases, they are crucial for the defensive speech. This survey explores in detail the universe of the characters and the evidences in the Apuleian oration. Testes are often presented in spectacular form: from Crassus’ comic tones to the scenic personification of verba suppressa from Pudentilla’s letter. In Apuleius’ words, you can also see a strong continuity with the rhetorical treatises and the previous oratorical tradition: undeniably there is a proximity between some choices in the Apologia and similar solutions in Cicero, as well and it is also possible, in particular, to read some sections of the Apuleian text through the interpretative frameworks suggested by Quintilian in the section de testibus in Book v of the Institutio oratoria.